Safe medication for mother and child

Empa researchers Nikolaos Tagaras and Tina Bürki are working on comprehensive safety studies on the newly developed nanozymes. Image: Empa

Nanozymes are tiny synthetic compounds in the nanometer range with enzyme-like properties that are already being investigated in other medical fields, such as cancer therapy. They are made up of a nanostructured core (e.g. metal atoms or metal oxides), which determines the particle's enzymatic activity, and surface modifications that increase the stability of the nanozymes and improve their specificity. “In this way, we want to enable customized use for different areas of application,” explains Empa researcher Tagaras.

The activity of the nanozymes changes depending on the prevailing disease processes in the area of application: From a stealth mode, a kind of inactive state, they can become active in order to capture reactive oxygen species (ROS) in inflammatory processes, for example, or to destroy bacteria in the event of an infection.

The development of the nanozymes is accompanied by laboratory experiments on the safety of the new drugs. Here, the researchers in the Empa laboratories use established models that faithfully reproduce what happens in the placenta and in the organism of both mother and child. “The structure, metabolism and interaction of maternal and fetal tissue are unique in humans,” says team leader Tina Bürki from Empa's Nanomaterials in Health laboratory in St. Gallen. It is therefore necessary to investigate the effect of the nanozymes on laboratory models with human cells and tissues. The established placenta model is used here, for which the team uses fully functional human placentas that were made available after Caesarean sections. “Only thanks to human placental tissue can we obtain meaningful results on the transport and effect of the nanozymes,” says the Empa researcher.